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xchrom

(108,903 posts)
Thu Apr 11, 2013, 06:55 AM Apr 2013

Boomers Push Doctor-Assisted Dying in End-of-Life Revolt

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-11/boomers-push-doctor-assisted-dying-in-end-of-life-revolt.html

Claudia Burzichelli doesn’t want to die like her dad. Nine years ago, her father, already afflicted with Parkinson’s, killed himself with a gunshot to the head days after his release from a hospital where he had been treated for a heart attack.

Burzichelli, 54, now suffering from kidney and lung cancer, is haunted by her father’s violent death, even more so as she contemplates her own mortality. She hopes to find a more peaceful way to end her life, if it comes to that.

On those days when I’ve struggled to breathe, when I think about the stresses on my family, I would hope that I might have more options than starving myself or taking my life in a violent way,” she told a panel of New Jersey lawmakers during a hearing in February on a bill to legalize assisted dying. “It comforts me to think there could be a process, a way to offer options that would not hurt my family.”

Baby boomers, like Burzichelli, a former eduction manager at Rutgers University, are at the forefront of a new movement. They brought on the sexual revolution, demanded natural childbirth, fought for legalized abortion and turned the mid- life crisis into a force for self-improvement. Now they’re engaged in transforming how Americans experience death.
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Boomers Push Doctor-Assisted Dying in End-of-Life Revolt (Original Post) xchrom Apr 2013 OP
This really speaks to me. My father's last five years were a hell for him enough Apr 2013 #1
I sincerely hope that doctor-assisted dying can be set up before I get to that stage. As a Nay Apr 2013 #2
This is an idea whose time has come Champion Jack Apr 2013 #3
Especially with quality of life budget cuts. Downwinder Apr 2013 #4
the saying that leaps to my mind- mopinko Apr 2013 #5

enough

(13,235 posts)
1. This really speaks to me. My father's last five years were a hell for him
Thu Apr 11, 2013, 07:09 AM
Apr 2013

due to Alzheimer's. Also a hell for the people around him. I do not want to do that to my family. There needs to be a way to get assistance in dying, but with Alzheimer's you need to be able to set it up in advance, before you get to the stage where you can no longer give the order or make the request. You may be in perfect physical health, but you will be beyond asking for the assistance you need.

Nay

(12,051 posts)
2. I sincerely hope that doctor-assisted dying can be set up before I get to that stage. As a
Thu Apr 11, 2013, 08:11 AM
Apr 2013

breast cancer survivor and diabetic, even though I am now cancer-free and only have mild, well-controlled diabetes, I know that either of these diseases can ultimately turn on me and make my life miserable. I would sign up in an instant to an assisted dying program so that I'd be ready.

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
5. the saying that leaps to my mind-
Thu Apr 11, 2013, 10:19 AM
Apr 2013

wouldn't treat a dog that way.

i am pretty much fine at 58, but i have a stash. a plan.

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